General Cycling DiscussionHave a cycling related question or comment that doesn't fit in one of the other specialty forums? Drop on in and post in here! When possible, please select the forum above that most fits your post!

I don't think I will ever own one, although they intrigue me... I think that there is enough general interest in them, and there are aspects that are unique to fat bikes, such as components at a minimum, that a distinct subforum seems reasonable.

Are fat bikes really that different from mountain bikes? I mean, there's a danger in splintering the forums too much. Mountain bikes could, some might say, be split into downhill, x-c, fat, and regular. But you'd cut the potential audience with each new group. I'm neither for nor against; but think about how it'll affect the overall traffic on the site.

Are fat bikes really that different from mountain bikes? I mean, there's a danger in splintering the forums too much. Mountain bikes could, some might say, be split into downhill, x-c, fat, and regular. But you'd cut the potential audience with each new group. I'm neither for nor against; but think about how it'll affect the overall traffic on the site.

I guess we just let the potential new traffic go elsewhere....MTBR perhaps. They have a Fat Bike forum - its interesting but definitely slanted towards off road use.
Its only got about 8,000 threads with over 150,000 posts...

I think a fat bike forum makes at least as much sense as a BMX forum. Some components are unique to the class due to the need for extra wide hubs and bottom brackets, not to mention tires and rims.
If someone is thinking about fat bikes, I think it would be worth while to have a place to go where others have shared their experience, and one could ask questions without fear of so many irrelevant answers from people who have no interest or knowledge of the genre.

I think a fat bike forum makes at least as much sense as a BMX forum. Some components are unique to the class due to the need for extra wide hubs and bottom brackets, not to mention tires and rims.
If someone is thinking about fat bikes, I think it would be worth while to have a place to go where others have shared their experience, and one could ask questions without fear of so many irrelevant answers from people who have no interest or knowledge of the genre.

- A thread was started by another in Forum Suggestions & User Assistance roughly 19 months ago, it had one reply... and sat there until the OP of this thread bumped it a few days ago. Since then, that thread has been a back and forth between him and the Site Admin.

-The OP of this thread also went and started a thread in Commuting attempting to garner support for a new forum. It lost traction after an hour, has a total of 8 posts... and half of those are from the OP.

- The OP of this thread also started yet another thread in Utility Cycling, which has a single reply.

And this thread has a bunch of comments that could be construed as snarky or derogatory towards another forum/discipline.

@GTryder- While you may feel that lumping Fat Bikes in with Beach Cruisers would be a disservice to the 'fatties', you should at least follow the precedent that the Cruisers set.

Before there was a Cruiser forum, there was a sticky here in General Cycling dedicated to Cruisers. You should do the same and then that becomes the 'go to' thread for pictures, links to rides/events, sources for the best deals on parts (especially those stupidly expen$ive tires).

They just are not that heavy, there are plenty of standard mountainbikes way chunkier. They just look like they are heavy...

You really have to try one to understand just how appealing they are, but trust me, they are great fun. I use mine for everything off road, singletrack/DH/bmx track. It doesn't like big drops and tends to bounce over rutty/stony stuff, but there is so much grip and compliance in the tyres that you can forgive it that.

People seem to love their fat bikes. What is the upside that makes up for all that weight?

The weight is mostly in the tires. There's something about quite a few cyclists (mostly guys), who find huge tires attractive and more desirable. I personally like big tires! I also like tanks and monster trucks, too!